


Rainy Season

by GooseAndGold



Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU Commander!Yamato, Blank Period, Edo Tensei, Hokage!Kakashi, M/M, OT3, Resurrected!Itachi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-06 06:07:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6742066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GooseAndGold/pseuds/GooseAndGold
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em> "Tenzō," Kakashi said, "I get the feeling something unpleasant is happening.”</em>
</p>
<p> <em>The brunet stepped up to the window, peering outside as well. Kakashi watched his reflection in the glass for a moment, seeing the displeasure flit across his face. “Yeah, I think that’s almost a given,” he replied. </em></p>
<p>The members of the Akatsuki are revived. One makes his way to Konoha.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

* * *

 

 

Hatake Kakashi sighed. It was ironic, honestly, that the world was starting to build peace and that here he was, sitting behind the Hokage’s desk and walled in by veritable mountains of paperwork that blocked the sunlight from the early summer day outside. He had fully taken over the position as Hokage almost five years ago, a short time after the Fourth Shinobi World War had finally come to a close. But the position had come to him largely by default. He had never really been interested in becoming Hokage, or even in becoming a particularly strong ninja. It had been Obito’s dream to sit in this chair, but here he was, getting ready for _negotiations_. Peace was a boring, tedious burden for an administrator to bear. There were Peace Negotiations, Trade Negotiations, Border Negotiations, and even Tourism Negotiations. Being Hokage was a great honour, and peace was an unbelievably precious thing, but Kakashi was from an era that had spanned two Great Wars. He had strived his entire life to be an effective tool, and being an effective leader had only been a piece of that picture rather than a goal itself. In fact, he’d spent a good portion of his youth being an effective and loyal soldier specifically so he could avoid making decisions for himself beyond following orders and completing the mission. He understood his younger self’s mistakes, now. But it didn’t mean he was any more comfortable in a role like this. Or, more specifically, that he was any less antsy. The whole thing left him with an itch, like there was something he needed to be preparing for.

Really, the best way to relieve that pent-up energy was to foist the discomfort off on someone else. Or several someones. Which was precisely why he had called for a runner to summon a long list of subordinates. They would be having another conference with the Five Great Nations’ Kages shortly, and he was uninterested in attending it without delegating some tasks first.

The most important of the positions would be assigning a new commander of the ANBU in the wake of the most recent shinobi’s retirement. The position had previously been Danzo’s, and while Kakashi never wanted that chapter in history to repeat itself, he did want someone who truly understood the depths of Danzo’s successes and his failures. Of course, he also wanted a seasoned ANBU member who he trusted completely. Naturally the list had included Team Kakashi’s official substitute captain.

“It’s a great honour, Hokage-sama,” Tenzō said earnestly, standing rigidly in the Hokage’s office ten minutes later.

Kakashi fought the urge to frown in annoyance. He had tried to persuade everyone in Konohagakure to simply call him by his name in one form or another, but he knew that the new Commander of the ANBU forces couldn’t maintain anonymity by calling the Hokage ‘Kakashi-senpai.’ “It’s an honour you’ve earned, Tenzō. Taking over Team 7 in my absence proved your loyalty—which wasn’t in question from me, so stop giving me that look—and it also showed you have a natural gift for teaching. I was always your senior so I never got to see how you command a team, but I think it’s clear that you can choose recruits, train newbies, and lead a competent squad. You’re also clearly an accomplished black ops operative. It’s peace-time but I’ll still sleep better if you’re watching my back.”

Tenzō nodded. “I’ll sleep better if I know you’re watched over.”

Kakashi chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows. His kohai groaned.

“Look,” the younger man said, “It doesn’t have to be me. I just want to know it’s being done, and by someone who isn’t letting their guard down just because things are quiet right now.”

“That’s the spirit,” Kakashi told him.

 

* * *

 

The five Kages, along with their senior advisors, were gathered in the Mizukage’s offices in Kirigakure. A few of the faces had changed since Kakashi had first accepted his office as Hokage, and he glanced around the table to take in which advisors his new peers had chosen. At the round table sat Gaara and his brother Kankurō, Terumi Mei and her protégé Chōjūrō, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, and Darui with a young man Kakashi recognized vaguely from the War. Kakashi himself had brought Nara Shikaku.

Outside, the sun was obscured by the perpetual cloud-cover of the Land of Water, and the windows were dotted and streaked with raindrops from that morning. Ostensibly, Kakashi was watching the tracks the droplets made as they slid down the glass, but he was also gauging the mood of the room. The meeting had been called more suddenly than he would have expected in a time of peace—only the third short-notice meeting since the end of the War, though they’d had annual ones as well. As a result, there was a tense expectation that the news would be Not Good. No one seemed to be angry, so there probably hadn’t been any attacks or affronts to their villages, but there was something cautious in the air.

Tea had been prepared in the corner, and a pair of shinobi who had to be twins—a sister and brother—came to the table and began to distribute and fill porcelain cups. It was a gesture that would not have been made if there were distrust between the assembled leaders, since poisons and other substances generally made shinobi leery of consuming things prepared by other nations’ shinobi. So, then, Kakashi could turn his speculation outside this room.

Once the tea had been served and the probably-twins had left the room, the young Kazekage cleared his throat and leaned forward. “It has come to our attention that Amegakure has a new leader,” Gaara said by way of introduction, sounding graver than Kakashi would have expected.

“And…there’s something bad about them,” Darui guessed from across the table.

Gaara nodded. “There is. The information Suna has gathered suggests that Ame’s new leadership are quite devoted to the cult of Pein.”

Kakashi found himself leaning forward involuntarily. That information certainly was interesting. “The Pein era of the Akatsuki, and their leadership, were characterized by strong nationalism. Amegakure has been the battleground to too many other nations’ wars. But from what Naruto has told me, they also looked to Pein and Konan for individual protection, like guardian spirits. They’re poor, they’re small…even when there isn’t a war their economy is still competing with giants. If living conditions have grown worse there as a result of the Five Great Nations’ prosperity, then it makes sense that a nationalistic leader might come to power.”

“That being said,” Kurotsuchi interjected, “if the point of their nationalism is that they are comparatively weak, then do we really need to be whispering about this like it’s going to start the next Great War?”

Mei leaned back in her chair, brushing hair from her eyes absently. “It’s true that we don’t need to start planning for an invasion anytime soon, but the rise of a leader like this does speak to considerable unrest. We may want to consider offering aid to cultivate goodwill and to help dispel the pressures that are building nationalism even in an era like this.”

Each of the five Kages was silent for a time, considering their political positions with Ame.

“Konoha doesn’t have a great record, as far as Ame is concerned,” Kakashi said after some time. “Aid extended by the Hokage could soothe old wounds, but if the political climate is as volatile as it sounds, our help could be taken as an insult. Kazekage-sama, I’d appreciate a look at your intel before we make a decision,” he added with a nod toward Gaara.

Gaara nodded in return, turning to his brother to be sure that the request was noted.

Darui leaned forward to examine the map on the table where they were seated. “Under my predecessor, Kumogakure and the Land of Lightning had very isolationist policies. We had almost no interaction with Amegakure, and we’re one of the hidden villages farthest from them. If the situation is volatile, offering aid might be a way to demonstrate our new policies. Ame is isolationist too, but their people should have heard that the War changed a lot of things, and our peace is stronger after five years of work.”

“It might be wise to have Kumogakure extend an offer of aid on behalf of all five of the Great Nations. However, they’ll likely be quite mistrustful. A document should be drafted to assure them that there’s no obligations for accepting our help,” Mei added.

“Are we certain we don’t want there to be any obligations attached? Can they use our money to finance war against us or the smaller ninja villages?” Kankurō countered.

“It might be best if each of our offices submits a list of our expectations for our aid and what form it will take. They can be debated or reviewed once they’re in order,” Shikaku volunteered, looking up from the scroll he had been writing on.

The suggestion was agreed on soon enough, and conversation went on to resource trade negotiations, which Kakashi happily ignored while his advisor took the lead.

These meetings were always long. Kakashi was more difficult to bore than he led people to believe, but he also knew when he had nothing worth contributing to a discussion. Resource management was not a point of interest for him, and there weren’t any diplomatic stakes to him tuning out the discussion. So he watched the low-hanging clouds drifting slowly from the West, slowly growing darker with the promise of more summer showers.

The clouds had his thoughts straying to Ame again, where they stayed for the rest of the meeting, even as the Kages were saying their farewells to one another. It bothered him that they had done such a poor job in their past dealings with Ame that there was no good, obvious way to move forward. And while they seemed to be in the worst shape, Ame wasn’t the only village in disarray. Kakashi had been reluctant—really reluctant—but he had assigned Orochimaru to dealing with the remnants of his old Otogakure, which had demanded more diplomacy than Orochimaru had been inclined to use. And there were other nations who were rivals to the Great Five who had been left behind by this new partnership. He could see the friction building, and they were going to have to find some way to relieve it gently.

 

* * *

 

The rain started suddenly. It wasn’t unusual this time of year—summer was the Land of Fire’s rainy season, and sometimes the heavens would open up for a downpour one minute, and then the clouds would clear and the blazing sun would be back out, heating up the streets and turning puddles into suffocating humidity. Thundershowers, sunshowers, and even hail weren’t uncommon. It was the chill running down Kakashi’s spine that let him know that something was off.

“Tenzō,” he spoke into the apparently empty office. A small gust of wind was the only indication that his former teammate had joined him by the window. The new ANBU commander removed his mask, recognizing his former code name as being an identifying name for him. Kakashi wanted to talk to his comrade, not his subordinate. “I get the feeling something unpleasant is happening.”

The brunet stepped up to the window, peering outside as well. Kakashi watched his reflection in the glass for a moment, seeing the displeasure flit across his face. “Yeah, I think that’s almost a given,” he said.

Near-black clouds were rolling along the horizon from the North-West, against the usual air currents. Kakashi watched for only a moment longer before turning to his friend. “Summon an ANBU squad you trust, and get someone to fetch Team Seven and Team Eight for me. When that’s done, security on the village walls and at the gate needs to be increased. Something is coming and I’d like to know what it is before it gets here.”

Tenzō bowed, replacing his mask before he disappeared.

Kakashi sighed into the empty room, and wondered if he should have tried harder not to wish for something exciting to happen to break up the monotony. It wasn’t in his nature to think like that, so clearly it was going to be bad for his health.

 

* * *

 

Team Eight proceeded with cautious confidence, taking their old formation. It had been a long time since these particular three had been sent out together, especially given that Hinata had a toddler at home and had been off-duty for years before recently returning to an on-call status—a luxury that could really only exist in peacetime. However, they fell easily back into their own rhythm, each of the three using their skillsets to probe the forest in the direction of their border with the Hidden Rain.

Hinata thought of Naruto, worrying reflexively about her husband even though his teammates had been tested a thousand times over during the war. If anything, Naruto’s excitement about a ‘real mission’ would be more of a threat than anyone they encountered in the forest, but she couldn’t help worrying. An unknown was an unknown, and this mysterious danger had even Hatake-sama and the other Kages being careful. She would rather embarrass herself by being overcautious than to underestimate a threat to her village.

Once they had run an hour out of the village toward the storm clouds, Hinata’s byakugan detected a figure in a cloak, another three hundred meters from their location. She made a hand signal for them to stop, and the team dropped quietly to the forest floor.

“There’s one human in that direction,” Hinata whispered, “but they’re just at the edge of my vision, though they seem to be moving this way. Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, and Shiromaru-kun, can you see what you can sense about them while I look for others?”

Her teammates nodded silently, setting to work. In turn, he scanned the forest around them to be sure she hadn’t missed others, and checking for chakra patterns or equipment that might hint at traps that had been laid for them. Not finding anything, she turned back to her team to wait for their observations.

“We’re barely getting a scent from upwind like this,” Kiba reported, with a bark of agreement from his young partner. “It’s definitely a human, though. I think they’re male. But there’s something off about them. They smell like…Sasuke, actually. Almost like if Sasuke rolled around in a mud pile.”

That was certainly puzzling. It was possible for Sasuke-kun to be in this area—Naruto had said that he’d gotten a messenger hawk from the Uchiha clan head two months prior and that he was in the Northern area of Fire Country. He could have covered an incredible amount of terrain in the intervening months, or if he had business in the area he could very well still be in the forest here.

“Are you able to be certain that it _isn’t_ Sasuke-kun?” Hinata asked her partner.

“I’m quite sure,” Shino told her, cutting off whatever Kiba’s response would have been.

“Shino?”

“One of my beetles is reporting back,” he said, holding the insect in question up on an outstretched finger. “The figure appears to be Uchiha…Itachi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bluh, Kakashi is hard to write. Hope I'm doing an okay job! 
> 
> This fic may end up being a long one, but I do have the details sorted out, so it should be slow-but-steady in the update department.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

 

 

A green flare went up, signalling that a non-hostile target had been found by Team Eight. Sakura’s hand went up, pulling the team up short, and Naruto and Sai landed beside her on a thick branch. “The green flare means a return to Konoha if we don’t see a contradictory flare in the next two minutes,” she told them, repeating the instructions from Kakashi.

“Aww,” Naruto whined in a way that hardly suited someone his age. “I wanted to beat Kiba’s team.” He sat down heavily on the edge on the branch, folding his legs and staring at the sky above the forest’s canopy. “You know, we could probably reach them in two minutes, second flare or not. Aren’t you guys a bit curious?”

“No,” Sai replied simply.

“I _am_ pretty curious,” Sakura told her partner, “but if those three signal that they can handle themselves then we’ll leave it to them. We have orders not to stray too far from the village any longer than we need to for this scouting assignment.”

Another groan made its way out of Naruto, which didn’t surprise Sakura in the least. She chose to ignore it. “It’s been two minutes,” she said after a sufficient pause.

“Finally,” Naruto said with a grin. “Let’s get back there! I wanna see what they found.”

Knowing he was just trying to torment her, Sakura ignored her partner again and nodded to Sai, who returned the gesture. They were ready to head back.

Having barely exerted themselves, Team Seven had enough energy to sprint back to Konoha, only pausing every five minutes to check the sky behind them for any flares signalling a change in Team Eight’s status. Without being concerned about saving their strength for a possible fight, the trio arrived back in Konoha in just over half an hour, panting as they slowed their strides on the way to the Hokage’s tower. Now that they were able to catch their breath without fear of being overtaken by Team Eight—which even Sakura didn’t want to let happen, if she was being honest—they let out their guesses as to what a non-hostile cause of the creepy feeling could have been.

“It was probably Sasuke trying out some new move with his rinnegan,” Naruto said as they passed through the threshold of the tower.

“If it were Sasuke that wouldn’t explain the creepy feeling,” Sakura said with a huff.

“Uh, yeah it would,” Naruto replied with a laugh. “But if you don’t think it was him, then what’s your guess?”

She sighed, turning as she led the way up the first flight of stairs. “It could be a bijuu or jinchuuriki,” she suggested, though she knew that if it was, Naruto would have likely noticed. He gave her a grin and a raised eyebrow that said as much. “Fine, fine. Sai? Wanna make a guess?”

Their teammate seemed to consider whether he even wanted to guess. “I’ll say…that it’s related to Orochimaru in some way,” he volunteered as they arrived at the Hokage’s door.

They waited a moment before the door swung open, apparently on its own, and Sakura stepped through with the guys on her heels.

“Lord Sixth,” she greeted, still feeling weird about addressing her indolent sensei so formally. “Team Eight released green flares a short while ago. We returned after confirming no additional flares. We…we were hoping to wait around and see what it was.”

Kakashi’s eyes flicked to Naruto, before returning to the squad leader. “It would be valuable for you three to stick around, in case they bring back something interesting. Part of your diplomatic education. How about you help me do payroll for the D-Rank roster until Hinata’s team gets back?”

A predictable groan erupted, although Sakura contributed a little bit to the noise as well.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. They’re already heading up the road anyways,” Kakashi told them, not bothering to explain how he knew as much.

They waited a few tantalizingly long moments before sandaled footfalls could be heard echoing up the stairs, and a knock came at the closed door. It swung open, just as before, and Team Eight stepped into the room, followed by a man in a red hooded cloak, barefoot and caked in drying mud.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting,” Kakashi said to no-one in particular, “but it wasn’t really this. On second thought, Team Seven, you’re dismissed. We’ll talk later. Thanks for your hard work.”

“B..but, hey…what?” Naruto stammered. “Kakashi-sensei, you said it would be important for me to stay!”

“And now I’m telling you to go. Today’s lesson is adaptability. Leave, Naruto. Now. We’ll talk in a bit.”

Naruto glared at Kakashi and then at the hooded stranger, with a quick frown tossed in for Kiba just to round everything off. He walked out the door with loud, petulant footsteps, and Sakura followed in a daze. Exactly what had changed that they were being sent away? The door swung closed once Sai had also left the room, and suddenly they were standing in the dim hallway, forced to wait once more.

 

* * *

 

Kakashi had not been expecting _him,_ of all people. The pieces were clicking into place immediately, of course—Pein cultists meant Akatsuki devotees, which could very easily mean the resurrection of every Akatsuki member it was _possible_ to resurrect. There was no particular reason this would not include Uchiha Itachi.

The young man pulled his hood back, now safely in the privacy of the Hokage’s office and away from the curious public.

“Hokage-sama,” Hinata began, uncertain.

“Good job, team,” he told them, though he was more than a little distracted by the ghost who was tracking mud over his office floor. “That was some impressive speed. For obvious reasons, though, I’m going to ask you not to gloat about your mission. In fact, I’m going to ask you not to mention your mission or what you found until further notice. Not to spouses,” he said with an eyebrow raised at Hinata, “or anyone else. Okay?”

The team gave their assent, and Kakashi was sure to give them a decent eye-smile before dismissing them. “You’re going to be on standby until further notice too. I may have some suspicions I want to confirm. Until then, you’re free to head home.”

Kiba in particular seemed put-out by being sent away—probably he had wanted to be more important than Naruto—but soon the room was emptied and Kakashi was left only with his visitor.

“Hokage-sama,” Itachi addressed him, seeming curious about Kakashi being seated at the chair.

“Uchiha-san,” he replied, though he was not at all in the mood for dancing around a conversation. Itachi’s eyes were not spun into the red pinwheel of a sharingan, meaning his naturally dark irises were nearly indistinguishable from the slate-grey sclera of someone reanimated with Edo Tensei. “I have to admit your appearance in my office this afternoon is a bit of a surprise.”

“I can only imagine,” the Uchiha replied with the tiniest hint of a smile. “Your appearance in the Hokage’s chair, on the other hand, is _not_ too great a surprise. Congratulations.”

Kakashi nodded in response. It was a perfect reminder that this man was supposed to be dead—he still appeared the same age as he would have been when he died fighting Sasuke, meaning he couldn’t be much older than twenty. However, six years had now passed since the War, and Sasuke and his wife were twenty-three. It was strange to Kakashi as well—he had always been Uchiha Itachi’s senior, but not by such a wide margin as he was now.

How much, though, could they safely tell Itachi? There were fewer secrets now in peacetime, both because there needed to be fewer and also because they were building bonds of trust. However, caution seemed to be the right approach…but what was the cautious thing to do?

“I imagine there will be a few surprises for you. A lot of time has passed. How about we trade a bit of information?”

The Uchiha stood straighter. “Of course, Hokage-sama.”

“Great!” he said pleasantly. “I’ll start, then. What are you doing here?”

“I’m here in Konoha because once I realized I was alive and got my bearings, I thought it would be best to return here and see what the circumstances prompting my reanimation were.”

“Which you would do because,” Kakashi inferred, “the reason you’re among the living is something you don’t know.”

“Correct.”

Annoying. Very annoying. But not any more or less suspicious than any alternative answers. And they could work with it. He would have Itachi submit to an examination to ensure he wasn’t being controlled, and then they could investigate his suspicions about the Akatsuki membership all being reanimated.

There was a long silence, until Kakashi nodded at his visitor. “I’m sure you have plenty of questions for me.”

The young man seemed to consider for a long moment, choosing carefully. “Is Konoha in immediate danger, that you are aware of?”

Kakashi should have known better. He had expected a question about Sasuke, but Itachi was unflinchingly loyal to Konoha. They’d learned as much about him from Sasuke and Naruto. It was just odd, even years after debriefing everything from the war and the unravelling of the Akatsuki, to see this version of Itachi again. This polite, quiet, humble youth, rather than the emotionless mercenary.

“Nope. No danger, that we know of,” he replied lightly. “Now, were you alone where you were reanimated, or were there others with you?”

Itachi regarded him for a moment, potentially hearing the unspoken question. Uchiha Obito. “I was alone, however I think you’re right to wonder about the rest of the Akatsuki.”

Kakashi forced himself to smile, though he knew his mask obscured the expression below the eyes. “Then we’ll continue to wonder. It’s your turn, Uchiha-san.”

“What would you like me to do?”

The Hokage snorted. “Right to business, hmm? We’ll have you examined soon, and after that I’ll decide where we want you. Do you not have any more questions for me?”

“Thousands. But they’re curiosities. If you’re done with me, I’m happy to be examined.”

Kakashi nodded; it was as good a time as any. “Kan,” he called, and the ANBU appeared, already dropped to one knee. “I’d like Sakura, Ino, and Kabuto waiting in an examination room for me. Round them up and tell them I’ll be a few minutes. Discretion is key, of course.”

The commander took a moment to regard Kakashi’s face carefully, his dark eyes shadowed by his mask, before he disappeared in a flicker. Kakashi would be having a discussion with the man later, apparently. He put the thought aside for the moment and stood, pushing his chair back. “Well then. You remember the way there?”

 

* * *

 

Itachi’s face was hidden once again by the cloak of his red hood, though the weather had turned hot and humid after the morning’s thundershower. He hadn’t yet asked, but judging by the weather and the state of the trees, he guessed that it was now early June. He looked around him, taking in the parts of the village they walked through. He knew that Konoha had been devastated by Pein, and while much of the village was laid out how it had been when Itachi had left it, it was clearly new. Beyond that, it seemed that they had been undergoing rapid changes—the fashion trends and electronics he saw were futuristic, to the degree that he could only guess what some of them were for. Restaurants advertised foods from other nations, and he saw several clan symbols from other shinobi villages.

“Given that you’re now younger than your ‘younger’ brother, I suppose the question of who is the Uchiha clan head isn’t suddenly in question,” the Hokage said as he led Itachi along one of the main streets, toward the hospital.

“Clan head of himself alone, surely,” Itachi pried, sure that Hatake was driving at a point. He was, however, glad for the confirmation that Sasuke was still alive. Unspeakably glad, actually. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to ask.

“Head of three, actually,” Kakashi corrected his statement, “not including yourself.”

Itachi watched him from under his hood, struggling not to be overcome with curiosity. Even after everything that had happened and everything he had learned, Itachi still felt that loyalty to one’s clan was dangerous if pride led one to be in conflict with one’s village. Still, the pitiful size of his clan was entirely his doing, so he couldn’t help but take hopeful interest in its recovery. The Uchiha clan deserved to survive—to redeem itself. For his brother to be at the forefront of its recovery was only right. “Three?” he finally prompted.

The Hokage sighed. “Uchiha Sakura is the second,” he said, “and their daughter Uchiha Sarada is the third.”

Their daughter. Sasuke’s _child_. Itachi was not ready to turn that over in his mind just yet. “How old are my brother and my niece, then?”

Kakashi watched his face closely as he answered. “Sasuke will be twenty-three this summer,” he told the young man. “Sarada has just turned two.”

Itachi had resolved, as soon as he began walking in the direction of Konohagakure, that he would not seek out his brother. It should be for Sasuke to approach him if he wanted to. However, the knowledge that he had a young niece made it difficult for him to remain determined. He wanted to see this two-year-old child who would undoubtedly resemble his brother. He wanted to meet his sister-in-law on friendly terms, and see the home they kept together. He was stupid for forgetting that Sasuke’s life would have proceeded while he was dead.

They arrived at the front of the hospital while Itachi was deep in thought, and Kakashi lead him through the building and up a flight of stairs silently, ignoring the occasional look pointed toward the Hokage and the cloaked man following him. The reached the third floor and walked to the very end of a quiet hallway before the man stopped in front of a door. Kakashi extended a hand, gesturing for Itachi to go first. He stepped through the doorway and found, presumably, the three who the ANBU had summoned. There was Yakushi Kabuto, outfitted in a religious habit, a young woman with the foggy blue eyes and straw-gold hair of a Yamanaka clan member, and Haruno Sakura…or rather, Uchiha Sakura.

“Ino, Sakura, Kabuto…you’ve all heard of Uchiha Itachi,” the Hokage began, far too casual compared to the expressions on his subordinates’ faces.

“Uchiha…Itachi…?” The Yamanaka woman, Ino, whispered to herself.

Another gesture from Kakashi had him moving to sit on an examination table, mud-soaked feet dangling above cold tile.

“Team Eight tracked him down in the North-Western part of the forest within our borders. As you can see, he has been reanimated with an Edo Tensei technique,” Kakashi explained to them.

Kabuto looked over to him, something undefinable in his eyes. “Only natural that you called for me, then, I suppose,” he said to the Hokage tonelessly.

“We also need him to undergo a mental search, just as a precaution of course,” he added with a nod at Yamanaka, “and a standard medical examination. I don’t know the details, but I’m told you were sick for a long time.”

Itachi nodded. “I was. But I was also nearly blind, and that doesn’t seem to be the case now.”

“Glad to hear it,” Kakashi said in a cheerful tone, though it was clear enough that everything Itachi said was being assessed. The grey-haired man turned back to his assembled team. “So, who’d like to do the honours?” 

Yamanaka looked to Sakura, who gave a stiff nod. The blonde girl stepped forward, sliding into a chair in front of him. “I’ll uh…I’m going to get you to close your eyes and I’ll be putting my hands on your head. If you just let your thoughts wander it’ll be faster than trying to think of any particular thing. Okay?”

Itachi closed his eyes and nodded.

He felt her fingers touch his hair stiffly, and heard her suck in a sharp breath. Uncomfortable. They all were. He’d expected as much, honestly, though he’d tried not to expect anything at all.

There was something else here. It was not simply distrust—on the contrary, he had the impression that his loyalty wasn’t particularly in question. He wasn’t sure who he had to thank for that. However, there was still a nervous tension—here, among Uzumaki Hinata’s team, and in the Hokage’s office. Itachi had considered a number of potential causes for this. First was the chance that they trusted him but they were simply unused to doing so, though for highly skilled shinobi this sort of mental shift should have presented no issue at all. Second could be that they were disturbed by what his resurrection signified—obviously true, but not the likely source of tension. Third, they may have still held valid concerns that he was being controlled by whoever had revived him, which they would test soon enough. Or, of course, there was the very real possibility that they had no idea how to treat him. Dead at the beginning of adulthood, manipulated by Uchiha Madara into facilitating a Great War, responsible for fratricide on a grand scale…Itachi did not think he would be immune to becoming the village pariah.

The fingers at his temple shifted, sliding under his bangs. Yamanaka exhaled a deep breath, and Itachi waited, wondering if she would find anything he didn’t know. It was only a few moments longer before her hands left his skin and he was told to open his eyes.

“Well?” The Hokage was sitting at a desk, mask-covered chin resting in his hand. “What’s his plan to take over the world? I bet it’s very intricate.”

Sakura seemed unimpressed, shooting a frown at her former captain.

“His memories span the time before he died fighting Sasuke, the period during the Great War that Naruto and Sasuke can account for,” she glanced at Kabuto, who remained impassive. “And the time shortly before Hinata’s team found him. There’s nothing notable about it. I didn’t find anything buried, intentionally or not.”

Report apparently complete, the young woman returned to sit next to Sakura, taking her friend’s hand to hold.

“Well that’s encouraging, hmm?” Kakashi asked. “Kabuto, would you like to see if there’s anything Ino has missed?”

“Of course, Lord Sixth,” he said, standing. Itachi looked over the man who had been the last to resurrect him. He still bore marks of snake chakra—evidence of an unstable sage mode, Itachi imagined. Kabuto’s skin was paper white, and his eyes were lined with violet, though he still wore his glasses. His hair had grown out since Itachi had seen him last, and was tied back in a low tail. The horns and scale patterning from his sage mode had all but disappeared completely. Most significantly, the Izanami genjutsu seemed to have worked—Itachi sensed no madness or malice from him.

“Itachi-kun, if I could see the back of your neck,” Kabuto said lightly as he approached. Itachi pulled his hair to the side and bowed his neck.

“I see no signs,” Kabuto breathed distractedly, “that Itachi is being controlled by a tag or other means. The colours of his sclera would also indicate that he is not being controlled at the moment.”

“Could he be controlled later?” Kakashi voiced the question that had first come to mind for Itachi as well.

“It’s possible,” Kabuto mused, moving to examine Itachi’s eyes more closely. “The jutsu was performed fairly well. He certainly could have been controlled fully when he was first reanimated. Unless,” he added with a raised eyebrow, “he has another sharingan stashed away somewhere? Hmm?”

“I didn’t plan quite this far ahead,” Itachi told him levelly.

“If you weren’t put under control after being revived, that gives us valuable information about the reason you’ve returned at all,” Kabuto said.

Kakashi nodded. “It does. Uchiha-kun and I will be discussing that later, I imagine. “That’s good enough for now, Kabuto, thank you. You have work to get back to, I’m sure.”

Kabuto gave the Hokage an informal bow. “If you should have any more questions,” he began.

“I’ll be sure to ask them,” Kakashi said with a wave.

“It’s interesting to see another familiar face,” Itachi said as the door closed behind the medi-nin.

Kakashi shrugged. “We’ve forgiven a number of s-ranked criminals since the War ended,” he said, answering the underlying question. “As long as they gave us enough reason to trust them.”

“To trust them even with orphaned children.”

Kakashi laughed. “Noticed that, did you? He’s earned it. He does a good job. Be on your best behaviour and you might land yourself a sensitive job, too,” the man added with a wink.

Itachi couldn’t hold back his sigh—he had forgotten what his former ANBU captain could be like. “I don’t have my eye on any sensitive positions,” he replied flatly.

“Then I’ll use you how I want,” Kakashi said idly, gesturing to Sakura. “Last but not least?”

She sighed and stood, crossing her arms. “What were you sick with?”

How brusque. It was Itachi himself making her uncomfortable; he felt certain of that now. She was being closed-off and angry. Clearly not frightened. If forced to guess, Itachi would imagine that Sakura did not forgive him for his actions in the past. It was frustrating that he couldn’t resolve that as easily as fear or mistrust. He would have to make due.

“It was a blood disease. I wasn’t concerned with it, beyond knowing there was no cure and only a mediocre treatment. The specifics escape me now.”

“You ‘weren’t concerned with it,’” Kakashi repeated in a monotone.

“No,” He told the Hokage. “I didn’t need to live any longer than I had. The plan was always for Sasuke to kill me—I only needed to live long enough for him to reach the point where he could.”

Sakura was truly glaring now—Itachi had found the issue at hand. But, of course he had. In the end, everything seemed to revolve around his brother.

Sakura began her examination without another word, curtly checking various instruments for heart rate, blood pressure, and whichever other vitals she found relevant. The long silence dragged, with even Kakashi being apparently unwilling to interrupt it, until Sakura straightened up and re-crossed her arms. “Can you see?”

“My blindness hasn’t returned. I could see last time I was reanimated, as well.”

She turned without replying, addressing the Hokage. “He has no vitals, since he’s a corpse.” Itachi almost flinched—this bridge was thoroughly burned, apparently. She was not pleased at all, and that might not have bothered him at all, if they weren’t family now. “I think I know what disease he would have had before,” Sakura said curtly, “but it’s not relevant anymore. Can we go now?”

“If you ask nicely,” Kakashi responded, his voice more friendly than his eyes.

Yamanaka stood from where she had been waiting silently on the couch, and had opened her mouth—likely to apologize for her friend—when an ANBU operative appeared with a flicker and crouched in the open window of the room.

“Hokage-sama,” a familiar voice said from behind the man’s tanuki mask. “A message has come from the Raikage. It needs your immediate attention.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uuuuuugh, I'm so happy to have that exposition out of the way. Our various plotlines will begin for real in the next chapter. Hurrah!
> 
> By the way, this fic is un-beta'd, so if you notice any typos, weird sentences, glaring plot errors, or whatever else, then please feel very welcome to correct me. I'll fix it immediately!


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